What is Google Groups? It is a tool for people to collaborate on a shared interest. We use Google Groups mainly for administration but not for collaboration. There are no cookies, there is no tracking, there is no selling-on of data about you. The only data stored about you is your name, your email address, and the date you joined the group. We don’t share that either, only the two administrators can see it.

Please note: if you have a gmail account, even if you never use it and have forgotten its existence, at some point google will post mail to that account not the one you registered with.

What Google Groups is not. Google Groups is not a social media forum and is nothing like Facebook. Only members may access our group’s web page. Only administrators have permission to post messages to the group. Members cannot see other members details.

What do we use Google Groups for? A number of things:

As a waiting list. The join date is used for a simple waiting list so that no-one gets forgotten and places can be offered fairly.

Communication with you. This is how we let members know about the classes and outside events. It is a very simple and reliable way of ensuring that all members get the same information. Not many posts are made, less than 10 per term. Only administrators are allowed to post.

As an archive. Old emails that still contain useful information (useful eg to new members or members who wish to revisit video details) are available at all times. At the time of writing this there are 12 mails in the archive, covering calls for fees, policy issues, videos, and courses elsewhere.

Privacy. Mails sent to the group do not contain email addresses of members. We only use ordinary email for communicating with an individual or a small group if they collectively wish to share their email addresses.

Sometimes we post a group mail to acknowledge fees paid. In this case members can identify themselves from their first name and the first character of their surname, eg John W, and the class they are in.

Why ‘WokingHall’? Classes were amalgamated during Covid and Woking Hall was to distinguish classes in the Hall from online classes.  And the absence of a more inspired name.

If you are unhappy about our use of Google Groups please contact us.